Bearly Worth It

When the hell was it going to rain in this forsaken land?! She'd been here almost week now, and she had only seen the occasional wispy cloud passing overhead, taunting her. Aunt Niji had given her some sort of ointment to keep her 'protected from the sun' and 'moisturize her skin.' Anywhere the land didn't protect you from the sun was obviously not supposed to be lived in, and she had been told it was even worse in the Land of Wind. Katsumi was wearing the local norm of a tunic and pants made of a light and breathable material, it was surprisingly smooth, but she was well aware that this type of material would suck to wear in Kirikagure.

She did have to acknowledge that so much color was, actually, a little bit pretty; while there were obviously trees in her homeland, they were not nearly as varied as the woods of the land of fire. At the moment, Katsumi was sitting alone in the shade provided by a cliff, watching a shower of pink petals come off one of the strange trees. The young girl hadn't practiced much of the soul blade dance since she had arrived in Konohakagure, Aunt Niji had been focused on reinforcing proper etiquette. She knew most of it; but none of it ever seemed important.

It still didn’t.

But she hadn’t trained properly since she left her home to come to this sunny hellscape. Normally, she would go out in the rain and practice by severing the fat drops that fell in her homeland, enjoying the cool water on her face and the balance required to dance on slick rocks. No slick rocks here, no rain either. She sighed, pushing off the ground, the blades moving into position as she walked towards the tree; a cherry tree, if she recalled correctly. At the moment, no one was watching, that was fine; people occasionally gawked when she practiced, but it was a dance, so that was harmless.

She picked a patch of ground practically covered in the petals and began her training. First, a simple series of stretches, then a few of the katas. It had only been a few minutes at best, but she became aware of a few civilians coming to gawk. With just aunt Niji and cousin Misa as the Tamashiha residing in the village, it was unlikely many of them had seen the dance. But it was not a secret, it was an honor to perform and be observed. Even the basic katas required grace and finesse, with delicate movements and the slow glide of the blades as if they were her partner in the dance.

But the katas were basic, Katsumi had been practicing them practically since she could walk; and while they may have been beautiful, they were about as simple as it got. She couldn’t help but give a slight smirk as she heard an ‘ooooo’ from an onlooker when she backflipped in the middle of a kata, her blades swinging under her in tight formation. Other than that, she ignored the slightly gathering crowd; her katas were just until…

There it was, a gust of wind in her direction. She interrupted a kata to sweep a foot behind her, the blades fanning into ready position again. Katsumi could feel her audience collectively hold their breath they knew something was about to happen. Dozens of petals were blowing towards her, and it was why she had selected this spot. Now, she could truly practice the dance.

If any of the civilians thought the kata had been fast, then what Katsumi was doing now was practically a blur. She moved fluidly, in graceful motions with subtleties that would be lost on all but the most discerning eye. With flips, high kicks, pirouettes, and delicate gestures, her soul blades struck out, severing petals as they came towards her; piercing others, occasionally sweeping them away with the flat of a blade. They were seven dancers in one body; each of the blades, and Katsumi herself. In her little designated area, not a single petal made it past her untouched.

After about thirty seconds the wind changed direction away from her, and she dropped back into the katas. She smiled broadly as her audience erupted into applause. This was the part of being Tamashiha that she loved, damn the diplomacy and trade negotiations, the dance was a core part of her being, and no matter how much Aunt Niji wanted her to be a demure little girl, that simply wasn’t going to happen. The soul blade dance was meant to be seen by both friends and enemies.

Yemon missed the bloody snow.  This place was way to friggen warm.  If he did not need ten layers and a personal heater, it just was not worth the time.  He got up and clicked his tongue, his little studio had a bathroom and not much else.  He got up and went through the usual routine of getting ready, tea, and exercise.  After a thousand stance and swings outside he came in and took a bath and got ready for the actual day.  

He then went to get food, which he did via his nose.  Today it was the same little ramen shop that he had found before.  He just got some rice and veggies, ramen was not conducive to his diet.  He took a walk around, most getting out of his way when they saw the cane tapping in front of him.  His tongue continued its rhythmic clicks as he tried to stay away from populated areas for the necessity of less sound.  He eventually made his way towards the forest, presenting his Iron tag and diplomacy paperwork as he began to leave.  

The man at the gate, most likely a ninja, waved him out and Yemon headed to the training forest as the people called it.  He passed a group of genin that were talking about trying to rescue a cat from a bear's territory, and Yemon thought about how tasty bear was.  He wondered if they were as good as the ones that were at home.  He clicked his tongue again and a blade moved and then an applause.  Yemon had not been ready for that and he lost his footing for a second and fell over a tree root.  "Damnit."

He got up a second later as the crowd began to disperse and clicked again and the blades moved again.  Yemon approached one of them, and the young lady that somehow controlled them, staring blankly.  "So, how do they work?" He asked before adding.

"Can, they skin a bear?"  Yemon stated, might as well make someone else do the work, maybe he could figure out the trick and get dinner.

Katsumi finished after a few more shifts of wind and took a long pull from her canteen, the crowd taking it as a sign to disperse.  It was a good practice, flower petals were a bit more erratic than rain; she would have to come here again.  The crowd was nice, too.  But they were gone, now, mostly; she shook her head as the Samurai she had encountered the first day in this village approached her, faking tripping over a tree root.

The young exchange student frowned at his pair of questions, then gave a small shrug, her blades bouncing delicately with the motion.  For a long second, she regarded the blind Samurai; unsure if even the blindness was an act.  While Katsumi's posture was impeccable, even when relaxed, she dropped the false formality she had shown while her aunt was watching.  "What's with the bumbling idiot act?  Maybe you're actually blind, but I saw you drop into stance when my blades surprised you."

"A very wise man once said, work smarter not harder." Yemon pointed out as he rested his hand on the pommel of the blade at his side and shrugged.   He thought about how best to answer beyond that and pointed at where he had tripped.  "I am blind, doesn't mean I can't swing a stick."  Yemon stated as he shrugged.   Not like it was going to get him anywhere arguing with stupid anyway.  He was not in the mood for any of this.

"Anyone can drop into a stance, but can I actually hit anything? Debatable. Plus, I like being underestimated, it makes things simpler.
Why do you act prim when you seem to only enjoy mockery?" He said clicking his tongue to check her posture and the location of the blades.

Katsumi snorted a laugh, he had dropped the confused idiot approach pretty quickly, but was still claiming to be harmless, "Cute excuses, but unless the Samurai have drastically lowered their standards, I'm sure you're just as dangerous as the title implies."

She shook her head, the blades remaining firm in their positions behind her, "I was acting prim 'cause I didn't want to get another lecture from Aunt Niji about how I need to behave properly if I'm gonna be the clan leader when mom retires. Backtalk was what got me sent to this stupid village in the first place."

Katsumi almost added a 'no offense' before remembering that the samurai was almost certainly not local either. She had to imagine he probably hated it as much as she did, "Why're you asking about a bear?"

Most don't know that samurai are dangerous, it is all ninja this and that. He thought, but didn't say. He was pretty sure it was a complete waste of time. Arguing with beliefs was a fools errand. That and most ninja were like Yemon and had no idea what a samurai was. He avoiding the backtalk and after the accents came out he wondered if he could leave this little girl to her tirade.

 "Yea, there's apparently one around the village wants dealt with. Not like I care about them but, I believe it gives you a chance to be diplomatic and forward in such a way that does not require you to be prim. Then you can stand out as being the goodie two shoes without having to do so." Yemon stated as he shrugged. "If a bear is too much, that does not bode well for getting home does it?"

Katsumi rolled her eyes, not that the blind samurai could see it.  Presumably.  The man obviously was able to get around, and presumably fight well enough.  They didn't make any doofus that could hold a katana into a samurai and send them to do jobs for various villages.  Dangerous or not, the man might very well be lazy.  She had met plenty of dangerous and lazy people.

"Whatever, you've got a job and you want me to do it for you.  Would you prefer to think you're soooo clever and have cleverly manipulated my desire to prove that a bear isn't too much for me, or would you rather I just admit I've got nothing better to do and don't want to go home and practice another damn tea ceremony?"

She rolled her shoulders and the blades fell into tight formation behind her, "Lead the way; it was Yemon, yeah?"

"Good tea is it's own reward." Yemon stated, them was fighting words, he like tea, whatever the sugary garbage that ninja drank, soda? Yemon hated that stuff. He ignored most of her annoying replies, not like he had the ability to argue much anyway. He was not going to win against a three year old. So, Yemon stopped and clicked his tongue as the blades began to move again. That was odd. He kept clicking until they settled and held up a finger to listen. Then, for effect, he sniffed the air, like he knew what he was doing.

Yemon made a few more odd gestures of tracking as he began to move in a direction. He even tried to sniff the ground for more effect and then ran through some trees, picking up the pace for a good hundred yards or so, dodging them before stopping at a Ninja and asking where the bear sightings were. The older ninja pointed in a direction, which Yemon clicked his tongue at, and then started heading that way.


"If you get lost, just pull over and ask directions, Captain Ron Rico." Yemon stated when the young lady caught up with him. Then he started walking in the direction of the bear sightings. Tapping his cane and clicking his tongue as he did. "How do they stay sharp?" He asked, referring to whatever hoodoo kept the blades there, exposing the blades to the elements like that was, just absurd and a defilement in the opinion of a Samurai.

Katsumi threw up her hands in frustration, the blades remained in tight formation behind her, "The tea doesn't taste any better if you take four hours to do it in an annoyingly intricate ceremony!  If I were to give you two cups of tea, one that was made over several hours as part of a stupid ceremony, and one that I made like any sane person would, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference."

She sighed, walking quietly behind the blind teenager as he asked for directions, eventually taking them out of the village.  The samurai did apparently have questions about the Soul Blades, but most of the information about them wasn't a secret.  It was a fact of her bloodline and training, it's not like revealing there were much secrets that were actionable.  Either way, there were the "PR" mystical-bullshit answers that the Tamashiha clan used for many of the common ones, she spoke once again with faux-formality, "The blades are fragments of our soul that we break off and combine with chakra; we are sharpest at the break, and that edge will never wear."

"I would most certainly be able to tell the difference." Yemon stated under his breath. He kept moving, clicking his tongue as he went to avoid falling on his face, his cane also helping. He listened, though what she said made no sense.

"Cakra? Edge never wear, part of your soul? I'm sorry I believe you just said metamagic bullshitium!" Yemon said as he pointed at some bear dung. "Right track." He stated and headed in that direction, based on the damaged plan edges that he heard when he clicked his tongue.

"If they're made of soul.... chackrat, bullshitium, how come you aren't like dropping from energy loss or something?"

Katsumi sighed, even through the forest she was walking with poise, gracefully stepping around the bear scat in their path, "Again with the clueless yokel act?  You can't expect me to believe that you were sent to go work in a ninja village and you didn't know the first thing about chakra."

She shook her head, one of her blades spinning to join her in pointing at a nearby tree.  She then realized the uselessness of the gesture to a blind man, and was glad he was unable to see her flush with embarassment, "Looks like he used that tree as a scratching post, we're probably close to its den."

"But anyway, yeah; it's not like you're going to drop from from carrying around your hands.  I've heard there are some clans that have extra limbs, just think about it the same way.  The blades are an extension of myself, not a chakra construct in the traditional way you think about ninja techniques."

She smiled faintly, "Now I get a turn, how do you get around so well without sight; my blades are practically silent, and certainly don't smell, so how did you know exactly where they were?"

"I don't think about ninja techniques, and I have neither seen or heard of someone with extra limbs."  Yemon stated, he was pretty sure the latter was most definitely bullshit.  The shogun was right, Ninja really do just make up nonsense all the time, then start a war to justify it.  Kind of an odd way to do things, but to each their own, just leave Iron the hell out.  He clicked his tongue again as she spoke, trying to find the scratching post, that was a little too much sight wise so he had no clue where she meant.

"Echolocation."  Yemon said as he opened his mouth and clicked his tongue against his teeth.  "Sound makes vibrations upon returning sound to its original location, I use my tongue, and the end of my cane to use two different frequencies to figure out roughly how far or close something is. Anyway where's the bear, its close but I don't have something like snow tracks to follow it like usual."   Yemon stated and tapped his cane and clicked his tongue again.  It had a myriad of drawbacks, but giving those away seemed like a bad idea after all, it would be relatively easy for her to wait till he did so, then scream. That or stand behind a glass, his cousin had done that once, that was ass.